Experimentally observed Campylobacter jejuni survival kinetics in chicken meat products during model gastric digestion tended to be lower than model predictions

Campylobacter jejuni-related foodborne diseases are mainly attributed to the consumption of undercooked chicken meat and cross-contaminated produce. This study aimed to develop a survival kinetics model, based on the Weibull model, for predicting foodborne C. jejuni survival during gastric digestion in a model stomach. We previously confirmed that C. jejuni can survive temperatures up to 62 °C; therefore, certain types of grilled chicken skewers (yakitori) were examined for C. jejuni survival during simulated gastric digestion. C. jejuni survival on a chicken thigh following grilling was examined to confirm the foods for digestion experiments. Further, C. jejuni survival during model digestion was investigated through simultaneous digestion of raw chicken and cross-contaminated iceberg lettuce. The model stomach pH increased from 1.5 to 6.0 immediately after yakitori ingestion and did not decrease below 4.0 within 3 h of digestion. Gastric digestion did not significantly contribute to C. jejuni inactivation (<1.5 log reduction after 3 h digestion). Our model could predict C. jejuni survival kinetics in simulated gastric fluid under varying pH during model digestion. This approach can be used to predict C. jejuni survival rates following digestion to improve food safety and reduce Campylobacter-related disease outbreaks.